3.4
Quality3.6
Difficulty33%
Would Retake83
Reviews33%
Would Retake
83
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
34
4
12
3
14
2
12
1
11
What Students Say
“He wants the best for his students”
CMST2800 - 5.0 rating“Although I didn't love this class, the speech assignments were interesting, and he was a fair grader”
CMST1600 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
57%
Textbook Required
30%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.43 avg changeRatings by Course
451
5.0
(1)CMST203204
5.0
(1)COMS452
5.0
(2)CMST452
5.0
(1)COMS393
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
COMM
5.0
RHET1000
5.0
CMST1700
4.6
THEORIES
4.5
COMS452
4.5
Reviews (83)
Students given a subject to present in class + midterm & final- it's decent.
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his theories class is pretty tough, unfortunately unless someone else teaches the class theres no way to get around it.
he teaches class as though it were graduate level course. however, he is very clear and you will learn more in this class than any other offered in the major. be prepared to work really hard but to be a better student for it.
Intro. to public speaking is definitely reasonable class. Blackboard is used a lot in the course. Assignments come in spurts, so be prepared to have no homework for a month and then all of the sudden major stress over your speech.
Theories unfortunatly is a boring class, but the professor is really nice and tires hard to make it interesting. He is very helpful and easy to get help from outside of class.
His theories class involves a LOT of work, but it is obvious that Murray really cares about his teaching. Be prepared to work hard and spend lots of time on blackboard.
Theory must be the most boring class to teach ever, yet he honestly seems to enjoy it. He tries to make the best out of tedious subject matter. Lectures are obviously boring, but he is straight to the point and does not try to trick you on tests.
He's a great teacher, who is very friendly and always smiling. He is always willing to help you if you need help, and his tests and quizzes are very easy to pass in this class since he posts them online and allows you to use you book while taking them. I definately recommend him.
I was realling stressed out over taking this class and having to do speeches but he makes you relax and be cool about them. As long as you prepare before hand for the speech with all he tells you to do, you'll be okay. He tells you your mistakes but is lenient with them.
by reading the previous reviews I thought I was getting a great professor. He's a nice guy and means well, but his lectures are confusing and boring (despite his enthusiasm), and his assignments are ridiculously long. be prepared for some long nights.
I thought he was going to be a great teacher because he is so energetic, but he is very confusing and vague. The whole class is taught by power point. His assignments are very long and begin to pile up on top of one another during the semester. You have a midterm, a final, and a final paper.
Murray is really enthusiastic. He can laugh at himself and tries to relate the theories to real-life examples. He can get difficult because assignments can be somewhat overwhelming, but guarenteed he'll help you during office hours and he usually gives you plenty of time to complete them.
Comm theory is a boring class but he makes it fun with his personality. Hes a very tough teacher, but comm students will benefit from him. There are several papers throughout the sem. which are pieces of the huge 20 page paper at the end! Tough assignment, but helpful. Tests are easy. Go to class!!
Murray is an ok guy, makes his class confusing and his tests are too long. I could have done better in the same class but different teacher. His assignments are long.
Murray is an good guy, but the class is confusing. I don't know if I could have done better with another professor or not. He seems to really want to help students. His class seemed impossible at times, but I got a B+. The assignments are challenging, but they help you understand the material because the book and lectures are pretty much pointless.
Terrible class. Assignments are long and hard. Classes are boring, just straight lecture. Murray seems like a nice guy at first, but he doesn't really seem to care about his students. Final paper is extremely time consuming. He uses blackboard all the time and it's so annoying!
Theory in general is a boring and pruposeless class, therefore the lectures are boring however about 2 weeks of class were cancelled because he could not be there and you never have to go to class anyways since ur friends can sign u in and his notes are on blackboard. Willing to help and not too hard a grader.
He speaks a language that is from outer space. I was going to say that he's helpful, but alien dialect doesn't help, whether you go to his office hours or not.
I cannot stand this man!!! He totally plays favorites, and if he doesn't like you, he won't help you. He's boring, gives really really long super fast drawn out lectures... and the tests ask extremely specific questions.... so if you understand over all id
You guys need to realize that college isn't always easy. He was a great professor and I learned so much from this class. Yes, theory is boring, but that's true with any professor. If you study for the tests and really work hard on that final paper you should do fine. I got an A in his class.
I have had Murray both for 203 and 204 and I would recommend him to anyone. The class is not easy but he tries very hard to help as much as he can. If you are willing to go to him for help then he is most definitely there for you. I think he is an excellent teacher in the long run even if his lectures are confusing at times.
He is ok, if you can get past his arrogance and intellectual snobiness. He doesn't like you if you ask questions that are just questions for clarity. He will make you feel kind of stupid. However,he is always available and he tries to help make you do well in his class. I can't stand the subject of research so that may be why I hated this boring cl
LOOOVEE Murray. He is VERY clear and basically spoon feeds you assignments. As long as you follow the outline he makes for you, you are fine. Some people get offended by his comments, but honestly, they need to grow up and move on. Gives a great amount of direction and instruction. He is there if you need help. TAKE HIS CLASS.
Very helpful teacher. Truly cares about material & his students. Always puts himself w/in reach (email,AIM,etc.). His jokes make class funny, no matter how corny. Haha. Great teacher. Highly recommended. Class not too difficult. With his help, easily doable. Takes roll w/sign-in sheet everyday. Hard to have friends forge ur signature.
Darrin's the man. He's so helpful in office hours, email, after class, etc. 2 midterms, a final and a 20 research prospectus are brutal, but he is always available for help. Midterms and Final usually consist of sample questions on Bb.
I've had him for two semesters now and sometimes he has pointless assignments, but he's a good professor. He is always willing to help you make your project or paper better!
Darrin makes an already abstract subject even more so because he he feels that he has to show off how much he knows. He uses a complex vocabulary and talks way too fast. He is very arrogant and will shoot you down when you have a question or comment. It is annoying how reliant he is on Blackboard, everything he does involves that stupid program.
Not easy but very good teacher. Even though his class can be hard at times and sometimes intimidating, he does his best to make the material approachable. His lectures are very clear and has very specific directions for assignments. I would recommend this teacher.
His midterm and final were very easy got A+ on both of them. Little assignments aced those but the huge paper made my grade lower. i ended up with an A- He talks alot and states interesting ideas and thoughts. Take him.
I've taken 3 classes with him (170, 203, 204). Straightforward. Attendance is necessary to take notes from his power point and understand the material. As long as you do that, you'll be fine. 170 was the most interesting. Big papers at the end of 203/204. 203/204 aren't as fun, but he tries to make it interesting. Take him
I hate this class. It's probably the most useless waste of my time i've ever encountered. I'm so glad that Murray is a moderately interesting professor. Though sometimes i wonder how he can lecture about keeping audience attention when everybody in class is sleeping. He doesnt grade speech delivery as much as speech outlines, which is really good.
If you are a communication studies major take him!! I will admit, this class is kinda tough. But he is brilliant and is always available to help. If you are lazy and disinterested in actually learning , then you should probably not take him. Do yourself a favor and dont be afraid to take a chance to learn!!
Like most intro cmst classes, this class is pretty useless. Also, instead of picking favorites, he singles out people to direct unjustified hatred towards. Midterm, final, four speeches. nothing too difficult, though he can grade speeches pretty harshly. Take him if you're good at sucking up b/c he's a jerk for sure.
Waste of time. Lectures were pointless because the textbook said the same exact thing. Very sarcastic and does this annoying giggling thing. Quizzes based on text, very easy. 4 speeches plus outlines. Harsh speech grader. midterm was multiple choice and easy. final was to make an outline. hardest part is giving speeches. I fell asleep regularly.
Very rude when asking questions. Acted intimidating. Lectures were boring. Solely powerpoints. He made this class seem harder than it seemed. I was freaking out at the end of the semester but ended up with a B+. Don't take this class.. he makes it hell.
This guy just loves the sound of his own voice & laughs at his own jokes which aren't funny. He can be nice but he goes way too fast & does not make the material interesting. Huge, confusing term paper that you work on all semester. I'm a comm major and enjoy most comm classes, but this one is terrible! Boring, lengthy, over my head. Dont take!
He is very organized, clear, and easy to understand. Midterms and finals are fair because he gives very helpful study guides. Most lectures are full of interesting examples. The only downside is the twenty page term paper, but use his guidance, he is very flexible to meet up with in office hours.
Alot of lecture but it was all relevant and usually interesting. very helpful if u ask. Doesnt answer his phone but reply to email right away. Best to take for 203 and 204
Awesome, funny, expects students to actually work,
Follow the reading guides you will get A's on the tests. I was challenged and did learn a lot. The doosie is the 20pg term paper, DO NOT FALL BEHIND ON THIS! Be persistent! Go to office hours! My grade in the class was a 94% before the paper, and an 89% after... I got a B on the 20pg paper, which resulted as a B+ in class. regrets.FOCUS TO SUCCEED
His tests are all scantron and pretty easy if you read the text book. 20 page paper due at the end of the semester, fortunately he does grade pretty easy. He acts like he wants to help you, but he really doesnt. Me and a classmate emailed him totally separate questions and he send us word for word the same response.
Professor Murray is a nice guy but his class sucks. The material is already boring enough but he adds work that is tedious and miserable. He wants to help but it just never works out for anyone.
Good guy. Good class. There were a couple of lazy dumb asses who hated him. But I learned alot. He's really not as hard as his rep makes him out to be. Great teacher if your serious about comm.
I loved this class. This is my second class with Murry and I will take another if I can.
Great class great prof. Go to his office hours it really help if you get to know him.
Nice guy. Good class. Requires a little too muuch work but otherwise OK
good. helpful. you'll learn more from murray than anyone else
Only values his own opinion. Acts like he is available to help but gets irritated every time you reach out to him. Attendance is mandatory; 15% deduction on entire grade for anything past 2 absences. If you can take his attitude and really long, boring lectures go ahead and take this class! Overall, one of those classes you ENDURE not ENJOY
One of the best profs in the communications major.
Really relevant class, helpful professor that cares about his students. Cares a lot about how we can use what we learn. Can be really flexible if you ask and if you work with him.
Good class. Helpful Prof. Not really that tough.
Had to drop another 204 and I was glad I ended up in this one. Really cares about his students and wants us to succeed. Not the most interesting topic, but he made it bearable.
Good prof. Knowledgeable, fair, and actually wants his students to succeed. I'd take a class from him again
Boring. Boring. Boring.
OMG Honestly... I have had the WORST experience of my life No Help At All... Refuses to answer the questions.. You would rather look at the sky and do nothing then to spoil your minutes listening to his life's stories. Very Rude. He thinks he is funny but EVERYONE hates him. If you want to waste your time this class is just right for you
Great prof. Always willing to help. Extremely knowledgeable about CMST and great for career advice, too. HIghly recommended.
WORST CLASS I HAVE EVER TAKEN AT CSUN. I thought this was going to be an interesting class, but it was the absolute worst. He is not helpful at all, rants about nonsense and never gets to the point. Whenever people ask questions he replies with a rude answer making you feel uneducated. Beware of the term paper..I advise you to STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!
I really enjoyed his class, and learned more about communications than just about any other class I took here. Highly recommended.
He's a tough grader, but his lectures are very clear and he is very helpful. He has a great sense of humor, so it's easy to sit through class - time goes by quickly. He also wears cool neckties every day, so it's fun to see what he comes in with each morning. Awesome dude. He's there for you if you need support in any way.
To be honest, I know most students feel that Murray's class is hard. But in my eyes, I thought he was challenging in a good way. Murray is a great professor who has an awesome sense of tie (yes neck ties) style and is extremely helpful. Gives helpful feedback and really cares about his students, not to mention his humor makes the class even better!
He's not great with names and grades you based on participation poker chips you collect during class. The material is easy easy easy and you review the same topic for 15 weeks, so you'll definitely get an A if you are a breathing human who participates at least once a week. One sentence will earn you a chip.
I've had Murray for two classes now and he is one of the most genuinely caring teachers at LMU. He will make you work for your grade but you will come out from one of his classes feeling accomplished and like you have something to take away. He may seem intimidating to approach at first but once you approach him you'll get amazing feedback.
Excellent prof. highly recommended
Has an unecessarily hard final project that he isnt willing to help you out on. A good teacher but dont take his class if it has a community based learning aspect. I went to him for help out of class multiple times but he was rude and not open to answering any questions.
He is always willing to help you outside of class if you reach out to him. He wants the best for his students. His rubrics for the speeches make it very clear what he wants and they are very thorough. I greatly appreciate all of the effort he puts into his class.
Dr. Murray is a kind professor who cares about his students. If you take your speeches seriously and listen to his tips, you will be successful in this class. Take him if you want to learn, and also have an enjoyable time.
This class was not one that I would look forward to going to. Professor Murray would lecture 80% of the time, and the other 20% was giving and listening to speeches. His lectures were usually unimportant and he would repeat a lot of information. Although I didn't love this class, the speech assignments were interesting, and he was a fair grader.
Professor Murray's class is set up lecture style, with some classes student led. These student led chapter teachings give students an opportunity to learn informational so well that they can teach the class themselves. Dr Murray cares so much about his students and presents helpful feedback that will help improve your writing and presenting.
Learned a lot about public speaking and wrote some great paper, but the amount of work was insane for me as a college first semester freshman, and I had to work really hard for a decent grade. But I will say he is a great guy and really kept our online class engaged and interested.
The weekly assignments were reading a chapter, watching a lecture, and taking a quick quiz... simple. But, there is a final paper that's 15 pages and extremely difficult. Dr. Murray gives you an outline, but little to no help or preparation. No matter what, you will not be prepared for the final paper. I do not feel like I was set up to succeed.
Murray tries to make it seem like he is there to help you, but is very rude and accusatory when you ask questions. He always makes you feel stupid for asking or like you don't know the answer because you haven't been doing the work. In reality, his class is just really confusing and his expectations are baffling. HUGE final paper, confusing, &rude.
Would rather eat nails than take this class ever again. Nothing can prepare you for how difficult the assignments in this class are. He is extremely rude when you ask for help and even is unhelpful once he replies. The 15 page paper at the end of the semester alone will make you want to change your major.
DO NOT TAKE DARRIN MURRAY!!!!!!! I wish a ZERO was a possible rating on here. He is rude, says hes there to help but he is not, and makes you feel dumb. Final paper is 15 pages & he throws you to the wolves to complete it. WORST and RUDEST professor ive ever had. His expectations for undergrad students that TAKE OTHER CLASSES are overwhelming.
This class was by far my hardest this semester, Murray is a terrible teacher. He is so rude when it comes to helping his students out. I hated this class so much my grades in other classes suffered because I had to focus all of my energy on his stupid final paper. Worst assignment ever! He acts like this is the only class his students are taking.
Honestly worked extremely hard to get by with an A-, does not believe in extra credit. Extremely harsh grader, beware of final paper it was very difficult to write. Pretty condescending and makes you feel uneducated when asking questions and slightly disinterested while participating in class. Extremely high expectations. Would not recommend.
That was so bad I want to give you a zero but that's not possible, so I'll give you a one. Way too much reading, unhelpful teaching, homework is essentially essays. I shouldn't be this stressed.
He isn't a bad guy, but it is tough to follow the class and everyone was stressed. He is a harsh grader and the final 15-page paper (minimum) was extremely hard. Taking his class makes it hard to focus on your others. Other friends took this class with different professors; it was a lot easier. I wouldn't recommend it.
Darrin Murray is the worst professor at this university. He will spring big assignments on you and then grade them INSANELY hard w/ no help. At the end of the semester be prepared to write a 15-20 page paper with 16 sources. I had to FIGHT for a B in his class and I am an A student so I wish you the best of luck if you choose to take Darrin Murray
Organizational Communication is already going to be an extremely boring subject to teach but somehow he made it even more boring lol, he just talks the entire time with non-engaging slides. Papers are pretty short, but he grades a little tough.
Not a bad professor at all! He is clear with his expectations and always there to help when needed! Be prepared for the essay at end, but he gives out an outline and is helpful. The exams were all open-notes.
This guy is the worst professor at the university by far. If you take him be ready to fail. The worst thing is he is on his tenure so there no getting rid of him. I hope Darrin Murray sees this because you made me dislike Loyola Marymount because of you. He ruined my Tuesday and Thursday mornings as I had him back to back. DO NOT TAKE. AVOID!!!!
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
57%
Textbook Required
30%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.43 avg changeRatings by Course
451
5.0
(1)CMST203204
5.0
(1)COMS452
5.0
(2)CMST452
5.0
(1)COMS393
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
COMM
5.0
RHET1000
5.0
CMST1700
4.6
THEORIES
4.5
COMS452
4.5